Oldest woman vet meets president

By Sig Christenson :
July 29, 2014

A North San Antonio woman who is the nation's oldest woman veteran got her wish last week to take one, last trip to Washington, D.C., and the journey included visits with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at the White House.

North Central San Antonio resident Lucy Coffey, who is 108, Biden talked for about a half of an hour Friday in the West Wing, the vice president told the San Antonio Express-News.

“We spent some time together,” Biden said. “The president came on down to the office to say hi to her, and it was a real kick meeting her.”

Her trip was set up by Honor Flight Austin and Honor Flight San Antonio de Valero. The two groups fly World War II veterans to Washington.

Coffey was a sergeant in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in World War II who was discharged from service on Nov. 11, 1945 and came to Kelly Air Force Base's procurement office in 1958.

On her trip, she attended an Air Force concert and visited memorials before flying home to San Antonio.